Brazil Became A Republic On This Day 15 November 1889 ~ WalkBrazil4K Travel Blog

Monday, November 15, 2021

Brazil Became A Republic On This Day 15 November 1889

The Proclamation of the Republic (Portuguese: Proclamação da República do Brasil) was a military coup d'état that established the First Brazilian Republic on 15 November 1889. It overthrew the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and ended the reign of Emperor Pedro II.

The coup took place in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of the Empire, when a group of military officers of the Imperial Army, led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, staged a coup d'état without the use of violence, deposing Emperor Pedro II and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Empire, the Viscount of Ouro Preto.

A provisional government was established that same day, 15 November, with Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca as President of the Republic and head of the interim Government.


Background
Main article: Apogee of Pedro II of Brazil
Allegory of the Republic (1896), painting by Manuel Lopes Rodrigues in the Bahia Art Museum

From the 1870s, in the aftermath of the Paraguayan War (also called the War of the Triple Alliance, 1864-1870), some sectors of the elite transitioned into opposition to the current political regime. Factors that influenced this movement included:

    The Emperor Pedro II had no male children, only daughters. The throne would be occupied, after his death, by his eldest daughter, Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, married to a Frenchman, Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, which generated fear among some elites that the country would be ruled by a foreigner.
    The slaveholding agrarian elite resented the abolition of slavery, which they considered to be a personal desire of the imperial family.
    The positivist and republican ideas of Auguste Comte spread among members of the Brazilian Army, increasing resentment of the monarchy.

Political situation in 1889

 
The 37th and last ministerial cabinet of the imperial government was inaugurated on 7 June 1889, under the command of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Empire, Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, the Viscount of Ouro Preto of the Liberal Party. Finding himself in a difficult political situation, Celso presented a program of political reforms to the Chamber of Deputies in a last desperate attempt to save the Empire. These reforms included, among others, the following measures: greater autonomy and administrative freedom for the provinces (a federal system), universal suffrage, freedom of education, reduction the Council of State's powers, and non-lifelong mandates for the Imperial Senate. His proposals aimed at preserving the monarchical regime in the country, but they were vetoed by the majority of conservative deputies who controlled the General Chamber. On 15 November 1889, the republic was proclaimed by the positivist troops, with the support of the agrarian elite, who resented not being compensated for the loss of their slaves after abolition. 

 

Proclamation of the Republic, by Benedito Calixto (1893)

 

 

copied:wikipedia

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